


your smartest decision

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: first to fight [21]
Category: The Code (TV 2019)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Marriage Proposal, Post-Season/Series 01, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23456725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Abe marrying Harper is an inevitability all those close to him have been anticipating since he had his first conversation with her. For such a smart individual, he's been a bit slower on the uptake.(Or, five conversations Abe has before he proposes to Harper and one he has after.)
Relationships: John "Abe" Abraham & Maya Dobbins, John "Abe" Abraham & Original Female Character(s), John "Abe" Abraham & Original Male Character(s), John "Abe" Abraham/Harper Li, John “Abe” Abraham & Trey Ferry
Series: first to fight [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1471817
Comments: 5
Kudos: 10





	1. maya

**Author's Note:**

> This could have also been titled: Everybody In John Abraham's Life Thinks He's a Lovable Idiot Who Needs to Get On With It Already.

“I need your help.”

Maya glanced away from her computer screen at Abe’s words, arching an eyebrow in question. “With what?” she asked slowly, eyeing him expectantly. “Because while there are many things I would do for you, my friend, I am required to tell you that I draw the line at helping you to cover up a murder.” 

“I…” He stared at her for a moment, perplexed, then shrugged off the strangeness of her statement before shrugging off the strangeness of her statement and continuing on as if nothing had been said. “I’m going shopping this weekend. For the _ring_ ,” he clarified pointedly.

“Oh. Oh!” Maya exclaimed, sitting up straight in her seat and frantically waving for him to close the door behind him. “Do you want the entire office to hear this?” she hissed once he’d done so, heaving a sigh in response to his carelessness. “I’m sure you’ve realized this by now, Abe, but the woman you’re planning to _buy_ that ring for is only a floor away from us right now.”

“Sorry,” he muttered as he settled into the chair opposite her. “I didn’t know the Defense floor was occupied by so many gossips.”

“Well, then you obviously haven’t been paying attention,” she retorted. “They’ve never tried to keep it a secret.” She stared at him for another few moments, eyes narrowed slightly, before her annoyance gave way to excitement. “So. You’re finally going to propose, huh?”

“We’ve been together less than a year, Maya,” he reminded her. “I don’t know if _finally_ applies here.”

“I had to sit through _months_ of longing looks and loaded remarks, Abe,” she countered wryly. “Believe me, _finally_ definitely applies. I’d even go so far as to argue no other word _fits_.”

“Maya,” he began slowly, patience wearing thin, “I came to you for help. This isn’t in any way helpful.”

“If you didn’t want to be mocked beforehand, you should’ve gone to Trey,” she returned promptly. “You came to me instead, though, so power through.”

“I’ll do my best,” he drawled sardonically, glancing at the nonexistent watch on his wrist. “I’ve got two meetings this afternoon, though, so if you could try to have it wrapped up in the next six or so hours…”

“Honestly, Abe,” she huffed, rolling her eyes, “I have no idea how Harper puts up with you.”

“She loves me,” he offered helpfully, beaming at the mere mention of his girlfriend, and _honestly_ , how the _hell_ had he ever managed to convince them he was anything but completely in love with that girl?

“For unknown reasons,” Maya grumbled under her breath, flashing an innocent smile when the other captain glowered at her bemusedly. “Look, I’m happy to help you out with the ring, but I don’t know if you actually _need_ it. You know a lot more about Harper than I do.”

“Harper, yes,” Abe agreed. “Jewelry, not so much.” He scratched behind his ear nervously, looking away from her uncomfortably. “I just want her to like it,” he muttered begrudgingly.

“Are you seriously flushed right now?” Maya laughed teasingly, grinning when his slight glower became a full-blown glare. “Aw, Abe! Being in love has made you soft.”

“I am regretting this more and more with every moment that passes,” he informed her seriously.

“I know,” she smirked, returning her attention to her computer screen, “but you’re too desperate to talk yourself out of it at this point.”

“I…” He cut himself off to consider her words, then nodded begrudgingly, looking as annoyed as she’d ever seen him. “You are correct. Just… can you meet me at Reed’s Saturday morning? Ten o’clock?”

“Yeah, of course,” she agreed immediately. “Hey, Abe,” she added before he could exit her office.

He turned around, staring at her expectantly.

“You don’t need my help to pick something she’ll love,” Maya told him seriously. “Not when you’re the one who’s giving it to her. You could make an engagement ring out of a parachute cord and she’d wear it proudly.”

He smiled wryly at that. “Thanks.”

“I mean it,” she insisted. “That girl is in love with you, Abraham. Don’t screw it up.”

“Don’t plan to,” he returned earnestly. “Ever.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it.” She hesitated for a moment, then said, solemnly, “It’s really good to see you so happy, John.”

“Yeah,” he replied quietly, smiling slightly as he nodded toward the photograph on her desk – one taken at the zoo several months earlier, with Maddie balanced on Maya’s hip and Rhys beaming at them both as he attempted to wipe away the cupcake frosting covering their daughter’s face. “You, too.”

She smiled at the photograph herself, her eyes softening as she stared at her small family. “We’ve done good, haven’t we?” she queried lightly.

“That we have, Dobbins,” Abe sighed, offering a wry grin as he finally pushed open her office door and stepped out into the hallway. “That we have.”

Maya waved as she watched him go, then shifted in her chair as a tiny foot collided with her ribcage. “I know, little one,” she murmured, rubbing a hand over the spot where her unborn child had just kicked and grimacing in discomfort as the baby shifted into a more comfortable position. “I’m very glad Uncle Abe’s found his happily ever after, too.”

Sure, it was a sappy, overly romantic way to describe falling in love. That didn’t make it any less true. _Especially_ not when it came to those two.


	2. trey

“Do you have a minute?”

“Ten years in the brig’s a good deal, Abe,” Trey answered without glancing up from his page. “Neither Captain Dobbins nor I are prepared to go beyond that. If that means we’ll be seeing you each other in court tomorrow, then so be it.”

“Captain Li and I have decided the deal’s acceptable,” Abe replied slowly. “Punishment fits the crime. It’s a fair agreement, for both the government and your defendant.”

“Good,” Trey nodded, turning the page and frowning at the first line. “We won’t have to tear into each other for eight hours straight, then.”

“Always glad to avoid that,” the younger man agreed wryly. “I didn’t actually come down here to discuss the Browne court martial. This is a more… personal matter.”

“Oh.” Trey blinked, setting aside his novel to give the captain his full attention. “Okay. What is it?”

Abe glanced over his shoulder briefly before ducking into his superior’s office, closing the door behind him. He came to a stop in front of the major’s desk, then carefully removed a black velvet box from his pants pocket, setting it down before Trey with a nervous exhale.

“Well, Abe, I’m flattered,” Trey intoned dryly. “But, as you may know, I’m a very happily married man.”

“Funny,” Abe remarked, though his tone suggested it was anything but. “It’s for Harper.”

“I figured,” the older man muttered, amused. He moved the box a bit closer to him so he could open it, whistling lowly as he got a good look at its contents. “Wow. You really _do_ like her, don’t you?”

Abe chuckled lowly, glancing away nervously and awkwardly rubbing a hand down the back of his neck. “You could say that. You think she’ll like it?”

“I do,” Trey nodded, closing the box and returning it to its owner. “When are you going to ask her?”

“Not sure yet,” Abe admitted, pocketing the ring box and sitting in one of the two empty chairs across from Trey. “I’ve been carrying the thing around for almost a month now, and I still have no idea of how or when to do it.” He paused for a moment, tilting his head slightly in consideration. “How did you ask Nona?”

“I’m… still not entirely sure that I did,” Trey confessed, frowning slightly as he considered the question. “We both knew what we wanted early on. Marriage was a foregone conclusion; an unspoken agreement we came to together. One day, we decided we’d rather spend our lives together than apart. We went to the courthouse, got takeout after. Our families didn’t speak to us for six months after that.”

Abe huffed a laugh at that. “That sounds very out-of-character for the both of you,” he remarked. “You both love control.”

“We do,” the other man allowed. “Love isn’t something you can control, though. We figured there was no point in even trying.” Trey leaned forward slightly in his seat. “Maybe that’s your problem.”

Abe frowned in confusion. “Maybe _what’s_ my problem?”

“You want too much control,” Trey explained. “But love’s uncontrollable. You should just ask her, Abe. She’s not going to care how you do it. You obviously want to spend the rest of your life with her, so tell her that instead of overthinking it.”

Abe considered his friend’s words for a moment, then nodded once. “I’m not sure if this is your way of getting out of helping to plan a proposal…”

“Only partly,” Trey cut in honestly.

“But it’s good advice, regardless,” Abe finished. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Trey returned. “I’m just glad you’ve decided to take my advice.”

“I do listen to reason occasionally,” the blond protested halfheartedly, wincing internally at the disbelieving look Trey shot his way. “I’m working on it,” he promised sheepishly.

“I’m sure you are,” Trey replied drolly. “Now that you’ve chosen to inform me of your plans, please stick to some sort of reasonable schedule. I’ll wait as long as I can to share this with Nona, but you know she’s essentially a human lie detector. She’ll sniff it out soon.”

“I’ll do my best,” Abe quipped, pushing himself up from his seat. “Give my best to Nona and the twins,” he added over his shoulder.

“I will,” Trey assured him, smiling after his old friend as he exited the office and made his way through the nearly empty bullpen, headed for the elevators.

Harper stepped off the elevator before he could board it, the look on her face telling Trey Abe was exactly the person she’d traveled down a floor in search of. She beamed at the sight of him, a hand coming up to rest on his forearm as they spoke in soft, gentle tones, and he leaned down slightly to better hear what she was saying to him. She leaned up slightly to brush the briefest of kisses to his cheek, and the smile he offered in return was so warm and full of adoration that Trey glanced away quickly, feeling as if he was intruding on a moment much too private to involve himself in.

He smiled as he did, though, feeling relief course through him at the realization that this time, the love his closest friend had found was both real and lifelong. Those two were inseparable. That was not going to change. And that? Well, that was exactly the way it was meant to be.


	3. deborah abraham

Deborah Abraham watched with concern as her eldest child descended the stairs from her attic, two large boxes stacked atop each other and balanced between his hands. “You know, Johnny, you really didn’t have to move them all by yourself. I could have helped.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mom,” her son replied, setting the boxes down in the middle of the living room and stepping back, dusting his hands off on his jeans as he did so. “You don’t need to be going up there by yourself anymore, anyway,” he added sternly, turning toward her with that exasperated glint in his eye that all three of her children seemed to get when she mentioned doing any sort of manual labor herself.

“Oh, alright,” she sighed, deciding it was best not to argue. She glanced at her watch, then looked back toward her son. “Do you have time for coffee before you leave? Mrs. Henderson from three houses down brought by a sweet butter cake earlier today, and I’ll need help if I want to figure out her secret recipe.”

“You could just _ask_ her for the recipe,” John suggested wryly, following her into the kitchen and settling at the counter.

“She won’t share it!” Deborah returned indignantly, putting the coffee on and then reaching for two small saucers to serve the dessert on. “Apparently, I am not trustworthy enough for her to give me that courtesy.”

“See, you’re incensed by this, but you refused to share Grandma Abraham’s lemon pudding recipe with Lillian,” John reminded her pointedly, though he looked properly abashed when she offered him her patented, unimpressed _Mom_ look. “She and Liam _were_ together for five years, Mom,” he added sheepishly.

“And then she cheated on him while he was deployed,” Deborah returned pointedly. “Would you really want somebody like _that_ walking around with Grandma Abraham’s recipes?”

“No,” John denied, smiling exasperatedly as she placed a plate and mug in front of him and then reaching for the bottle of creamer, “I guess I wouldn’t.”

“Good.” Deborah claimed the stool across from him, adding creamer and sugar to her own coffee before taking a sip. “So,” she began after several moments had passed in silence, “is everything alright with you and Harper?”

Her son glanced up, startled, and nodded once as he met her gaze. “Everything’s _great_ with Harper and me,” he promised earnestly. “Why?”

“Well,” Deborah sighed, slowly cutting into her slice of cake, “I know you didn’t just drop by to help me with those boxes, and you’ve got the same look on your face that your brother did when he told me Farrah was pregnant with Thea.” Her fork clattered against the counter as realization set in. “John Everett Abraham, is Harper pregnant?”

“No, Ma!” he denied immediately, eyes widening as his mother exhaled in relief. “Why’d you even go there?”

“Well, you’re the one refusing to discuss why you’re here!” she retorted, exasperated with her son in a way she hadn’t been since he was a very young boy. “Excuse me for assuming there might be a serious reason for that.”

“There is a serious reason for it; it just isn’t that she’s pregnant.” John exhaled slowly, then glanced up from the counter to meet her expectant gaze. “I’m asking her to marry me soon.”

“Oh,” Deborah replied, narrowing her eyes in confusion. “Is that all?”

“Is that _all_?” he repeated incredulously. “You don’t think that’s a big deal all on its own?”

“No, I do,” she denied. “It just isn’t all that surprising. I mean, Johnny, you’ve been talking about that young woman with stars in your eyes for _years_ now. If I’m completely honest, I’m surprised it’s taken you this long.”

“You don’t think it’s too soon?” John questioned hesitantly.

“Of course not,” she rejected the idea immediately. “There’s no timeline for falling in love, my boy. If you love her, and she loves you, and you know you want to spend your life with her, then that is what matters, nothing more.” 

John nodded once, a boyish grin blooming on his face. “I really love her, Ma,” he confessed sincerely.

Deborah smiled as she reached out to pat her son’s hand. “I know, Johnny,” she murmured. “I know.”

She’d been thankful for Harper’s existence many times over the past couple years, but she’d never been quite as grateful as she was in that moment, watching her son discuss proposing and witnessing the way he lit up at the mere mention of the woman he planned to marry.

(If Harper were to ever ask for Grandma Abraham’s lemon pudding recipe – well, her access would be instantaneous.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constantly calling Abe "John" is a trip and a half, let me tell you. I had to do it for both this and the next chapter, and it was a challenge to keep myself from typing "Abe" Every. Single. Time.


	4. candace; liam

“I’m going to ask Harper to marry me.”

“Of course you are,” Candace replied promptly, barely glancing up from the menu she held. She rolled her eyes at the scolding look her younger brother shot her. “Don’t look at me like that, Liam. It’s not like it’s a surprise. He’s probably had the ring since their first date.”

“I only bought it two months ago,” John corrected pointedly.

“I’m sorry,” his sister began, closing her menu and setting it aside, “did you just say you bought the ring two _months_ ago?”

“How is that concept harder for you to grasp that the idea I’ve been hiding a ring away for a year?” John questioned incredulously.

“That would be much weirder,” Liam piped up as he reached for another tortilla chip. He flinched at the fierce glare his older sister aimed his way. “What? It would be.”

Candace shook her head disbelievingly. “So, Johnny, you’re saying that you actually bought a ring _months_ ago, and it’s still sitting in the back of your closet,” she concluded.

“Well, it’s not sitting in the back of my closet,” her older brother protested half-heartedly. “It’s in my pocket.”

“It’s in your pocket,” Candace repeated, unimpressed. “So, it’s always on your person. You have had dozens of chances to make use of it, yet it remains in a box rather than on Harper Li’s finger.” She shook her head in disbelief. “That is _worse_.”

“Okay, at least when Mom was mocking me, she didn’t do it so rudely,” he muttered under his breath.

“You told _Mom_?” Candace hissed. “Before you told _us_?”

“You’re never in town and Liam’s always sleep-deprived,” John defended himself.

Next to her, Liam nodded in agreement. “That’s true. This is the first food I’ve gotten to eat without a side of colic in about six weeks now,” he remarked, gesturing to the appetizer tray at the center of their table. “Also, it’s _Mom_ ,” he added in defense of their brother. “She’s the closest thing to a human lie detector test I’ve ever met.”

“That’s… true,” Candace begrudgingly allowed. “Still, if you’ve been carrying a ring around long enough for Mom to have found out about it, then you should’ve…”

“Used it already, I know,” John finished, exhaling wearily when his sister nodded in emphatic agreement. “Look, I’ve been thinking about it nonstop since I picked up the damn thing, alright? I just… I want it to be perfect.”

Candace rolled her eyes. “Harper obviously isn’t concerned with perfection, Johnny. After all, she fell in love with _you_.”

“Your compliments are rivaled by nobody, Candace,” John drawled sardonically. “They truly mean the world to me.”

“Hey, I’m trying to be serious here,” Candace snapped, drawing both brothers’ attention. “Just give the girl the ring, Johnny. For some unknown reason, she is head over heels in love with you. That means that, no matter how you ask her, she’ll think it’s perfect.”

John nodded once, then cleared his throat. “Liam? Anything to add?”

Their younger brother heaved a sigh, then offered an apologetic shrug. “I’d usually try to make whatever she said seem nicer, because our sister’s a little, how do you say it, _harsh_ …” 

“Hey! Respect for your elders,” Candace cut in sharply.

“You’re less than two years older than me,” the infantryman retorted with a roll of his eyes. “Makes that Golden Rule nonapplicable.” Ignoring his sister’s indignant huff, he continued to speak to his brother. “As I was saying, I’d usually try to be Good Cop for you, but this is the first time I’ve left my house in about five weeks, and I’m operating on about an hour of sleep here, so, apologies, but…” He nodded toward the platter of appetizers in front of him.

“Understandable,” John allowed, glancing back over at his sister. “She’s out of town for the weekend,” he informed her. “I was always planning to ask her at some point next week.”

“Sure you were,” Candace drawled dubiously.

“I am going to ask her,” he insisted yet again. “I’m just…”

“Worried?” she completed meaningfully. “That’s a _good thing_ , Johnny. Worrying means you care what happens. It means your head’s in the right space.”

“Right.” Her older brother cleared his throat. “And you’re okay with this?” he checked, glancing between the two of them.

“Oh, please,” Candace laughed, finally closing her menu and placing it down on the table in front of her, “if you weren’t going to marry Harper, I would’ve done it myself.”

“You really want her to be part of the family that badly, huh?” Liam asked innocently from next to her.

“Hey, don’t mock. I’m fully prepared to marry Farrah, too, if you don’t bite that bullet soon,” Candace told him seriously.

“O…kay,” Liam drawled slowly, eyes wide as he glanced over at his brother, “that’s good to know, I guess.”

“Well,” Abe sighed, reaching for his water glass after the waitress dropped by to refill it, “that’s officially the strangest thing I’ve ever heard her say.”

“Agreed,” Liam muttered, reaching for his own glass and taking a long swallow of its contents before glancing back over at his sister. “I just… seriously?”

“Absolutely,” she replied, so deadpan it was impossible to tell whether or not she was joking as she raised her glass. “So, let’s make a toast. To the family.”

“To the family,” both brothers repeated as they tapped their glasses against hers, too confused by the conversation to do anything but go along with it.

“And to John finally manning up so I can officially call Harper my sister-in-law,” she added quickly, shooting a pointed glare her brother’s way.

“I…” he began to protest, then trailed off with a careless shrug. “You know what? I can use all the help I can get.”

Candace nodded in agreement, taking a sip of her iced peach tea and then returning it to the table. “Seriously, though, sooner rather than later,” she told her brother again.

“Yeah, Candace,” John sighed laughingly, shaking his head, “I got it.”

“Like, I’m talking the second she steps off that plane from California…”

“I’m not proposing to her in the middle of an airport, Candace,” he denied wryly.

“Then propose outside the airport,” Candace suggested hopefully, sighing when he simply shook his head. “Fine,” she grumbled, slumping in her chair. “As long as it’s next week, I’ll be fine.”

“You are strangely invested in his proposal,” Liam remarked, nodding his thanks to the waitress as she stopped by with a fresh dish of tortilla chips and several small bowls of dip.

“Harper is a thousand times cooler than him,” Candace replied seriously. “The sooner I get to refer to her as family and have it be _legally binding_ , the better.” She offered her brother yet another pointed glance. “So. First thing?”

“First thing,” he agreed. “I just… there’s one more person I need to talk to, first. Before she gets back.” The look in his eyes transformed into something a bit more heartbreaking, and his sister knew exactly who he was referring to.

“Okay,” she agreed quietly, mustering up a smile she hoped appeared at least halfway genuine. “After that, though…”

“You’ll take me to a hospital for a head scan, because no one with a healthy brain would continue dating someone as amazing as Harper Li without making good use of the ring in his pocket?”

Candace nodded once, mollified. “ _Exactly_.”


	5. russell abraham

Unsurprisingly, the cemetery was almost completely empty when he arrived. It’d been bitterly cold for the better part of the past week, with temperatures rarely rising above freezing, and a surprise rainstorm the previous day had dampened the ground, making it difficult to get across the small field without becoming covered by mud in the process. It was worth it, though, to have this time to himself with the man who’d influenced every decision he’d made since he was three years old and being held behind the wheel of a Humvee.

A small mound of leaves had fallen atop the headstone, and he carefully brushed them aside, smiling sadly as he ran his fingers over the engraving. _Russell Everett Abraham. September 22, 1942 – September 11, 2001. Beloved Son, Husband, Father, and Friend. Never Forgotten._

“Hi, Dad,” he murmured lowly, crouching down to place the bouquet of gladioluses in front of his father’s headstone. He leaned back on his heels, glancing up at the sky briefly. “I know I haven’t dropped by in a while. I’m sorry. I’ve been, uh…” He trailed off, blinking rapidly as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, then cleared his throat. “I’ve been carrying a ring around in my pocket for the past two months, trying to figure out how to tell Harper I want to spend my life with her. She knows, I think. Or she knows something’s different, at the very least. She’s very perceptive, my Harper. It’s one of the thousand reasons I fell in love with her.”

He smiled briefly. “You’d really like her, Dad. Harper. You’d love her, same as Mom does. She’s – she makes me better, you know? She makes me _more_. She’s brave, and smart, and funny, and she loves people at their worst. She loves _me_ at my worst. Even on the bad days, the days when nothing makes any sense, _she_ still makes sense. She’s the only thing that always does, Dad. She is the love of my life.” His smile slipped slightly. “I know I spent most of my teen years insisting that I didn’t believe in all that, but…” He shrugged helplessly. “Turns out you were right, Dad. I finally found the girl who was made to prove me wrong.” He picked at a blade of grass. “Yet for some reason, her ring’s still in my pocket instead of on her finger.”

He exhaled deeply. “I’ve been telling myself that’s because of how busy we are. We never seem to have enough time. And that’s true. But it’s not the only reason I haven’t asked her. And it’s not because I’m doubting her, Dad, if that’s what you’re worrying about. I’ve never doubted her, or what I feel for her. But you were supposed to be _here_ , Dad, for all of it. You were supposed to watch me marry the love of my life, and you were supposed to meet my kids. If I had my way, it wouldn’t be like this. You’d be experiencing all this _with_ us instead of watching over us while it all happens.”

Abe gritted his teeth as a single tear trailed down his cheek, unchecked. “But I don’t get my way on this one, Dad. I haven’t gotten my way in almost twenty years now. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to accept that, though.”

“I wanted you to know,” he said finally, returning his gaze to the sky. “That I’m going to ask her to marry me. I don’t know how things work up there, but… I wanted you to hear it from me. I’ll – I owe you that much. You should’ve been here to hear it from me in the first place.”

He cleared his throat, blinking back the tears stinging his eyes. “I’ve already told Mom, and Candace and Liam. They’re all thrilled. They think I’m taking too long, but I just… I couldn’t _not_ tell you first, Pop. Though I’m sure Mom already has. Candace, too. I know she comes here much more often than Liam and I do.” Abe smiled slightly. “She’s probably told you all about it all, huh? How Harper and I fell in love, how I didn’t even notice it at first. You would have been laughing at me with her and Mom, I’m sure. I was something of an idiot there at the beginning. It could probably be argued that I still am, especially when it comes to her.” His smile slipped. “I have spent every day of the past nineteen years convincing myself I’d be able to do this without you being around. And I will, Dad, I swear. I’m just…” He trailed off, inhaling deeply. “I guess I just needed to talk to you first.”

“Don’t worry, though,” he added quickly. “I’m going to propose to Harper. I’ll do right by her. I know you’d want me to do that. I know you’d want me to be happy. And I am, Dad. I’m – well, I’m getting there.”

He carefully rearranged the flowers, then nodded once. “By the way, I’m not sure how true it is, but I know Mom believes kids – they live amongst the angels before they’re sent down to Earth. I just… if you ever run across any of mine up there, can you keep an eye on them for me, Pop? Get them down here to us safe, same as you did with Thea?”

He smiled in the silence, knowing that, if he had been there, Russell Abraham would’ve agreed to that request in a heartbeat.

“Okay,” he muttered, offering one last glance to the headstone before him before slowly standing and dusting a few final leaves from atop the marble slab. “Bye, Dad,” he said finally, leaving the cemetery behind for the time being.

Just as he pulled out onto the road, the sun emerged from behind the clouds for the first time in over a week. He decided that was a sign, could practically hear his father saying, _I’m glad you’ve found your one, son_ , and the thought brought a smile to his lips that didn’t fade until long after the sun set that evening.


	6. harper

Harper was still curled up in the center of his bed when Abe returned from his morning jog, bundled beneath the comforter and about five additional blankets in a valiant effort to ward off the chill of the outside air. She was completely relaxed, smiling contently even while she slept, and Abe couldn’t help but grin affectionately at the very sight of her.

The previous evening had been an eventful one, to say the least. It was still hard for him to believe she’d said yes, despite the fact that he had already committed every moment of the night to memory. Standing there, staring at her as she slept and knowing he’d get to do so for the rest of their lives, was surreal in the best possible way.

“Don’t just stand there,” Harper murmured into her pillow, blinking slowly and staring up at him with a sleepy smile. “Hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s weird to watch people sleep?”

“They have,” Abe nodded, drawing nearer to the bed and placing a disposable coffee mug and a small brown bag from the nearest bakery on the nightstand. “I’m not watching just anybody sleep, though. I’m watching my _fiancée_ sleep.”

“Oh, well, if it’s your _fiancée_ , then okay,” she returned teasingly, leaning up to brush her lips briefly against his and smiling against his skin when he slowly pulled away. “Where did you go?” she asked curiously, shifting into an upright position.

“For a jog, then to that bakery up the street you like so much,” he informed her, heading for the shower.

“I would’ve gone with you,” she called after him.

He laughed quietly, turning on his heel to meet her gaze with an amused smile. “I’m sure you would’ve been capable, yes,” he agreed. “However, I was up at five o’clock this morning. I don’t want you ready to divorce me before we’re even married.”

“Never,” she said seriously. “But… smart move,” she allowed a moment later.

“Yeah,” he chuckled, shaking his head with a fond grin as he once again turned toward the bathroom. “That’s what I thought.”

She was still beneath the covers when he returned, hair still damp from the shower. “I’ve decided to stage a protest,” she told him seriously.

He paused in the bathroom doorway, doing his best to towel-dry his hair. “Okay?” he said, though it sounded more like a question. “And just what are you protesting, _cuore mio_?”

She shivered slightly, smiling up at him as he settled onto the mattress beside her. “We have discussed the Italian in the past, Abraham,” she reminded him sternly, though the grin on her face didn’t help argue her point.

“Right.” He brushed a kiss to her cheek, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into his chest. “Seriously, though,” he mumbled against her hair, “what’re you protesting?”

“The weather,” she murmured in response. “I say we don’t go outside until it’s at least above freezing.”

“So what you’re saying is that you want to spend the entire day here, just you and me, in this bed?” he checked, smirking suggestively when she rolled her eyes at him. “Well, love,” he muttered, pulling her even closer and reveling in the delighted shriek she released as she landed atop him, “I think I can work with that.”

There, in that room, listening to the sound of her laughter, he knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he’d found his forever.


End file.
